The Great, Constantly Changing Picture Gallery...part DEUX

[Pags]

Why wear the face shield when the doors are on?

 

[squeeze]

You guys do know we have GBU-series weapons in the inventory right? Last I saw from a former RAG classmatte, he was taking a selfie in front of a motivated D at 29 palms with 10 MK82's......so I guess the answer is no

FRS NCEA's are better spent on dumb bombs teaching mechanics and flying a loaded jet than half-assing PGMs with a single show and tell event (because there aren't even enough LGTRs in the FRS NCEA for every RP to get one, let alone enough real GBUs). For initial exposure events, sim time and sim codes can drill PGM habit patterns into the brain just fine.

Now in a perfect world, we'd have an NCEA that reflected our actual employment, but that's not happening. Not like the NCEA has any basis in reality anyhow.

/Fuck the NCEA - drop it all and ask for more... you'll almost always get it.
//Former PTO

 

[jmcquate]

Real men use CCIP

 

[MIDNJAC]

FRS NCEA's are better spent on dumb bombs teaching mechanics and flying a loaded jet than half-assing PGMs with a single show and tell event (because there aren't even enough LGTRs in the FRS NCEA for every RP to get one, let alone enough real GBUs). For initial exposure events, sim time and sim codes can drill PGM habit patterns into the brain just fine.

Now in a perfect world, we'd have an NCEA that reflected our actual employment, but that's not happening. Not like the NCEA has any basis in reality anyhow.

/Fuck the NCEA - drop it all and ask for more... you'll almost always get it.
//PTO

Oh for sure. I dropped 2 LGTR's in the RAG, and that was with a NITEHAWK pod, so I'm guessing they ended up in Mexico. I don't know how it is now, but back then, I was the only RP in months to have done that flight in the jet and not in a sim......though I think that was a pod issue, vs NCEA, and it was -101 so they were just trying to get events even airborne. Just meant that while you don't get many looks at anything live (GP or otherwise) in the FRS, you do get a bunch in the fleet workup cycle at least.

 

[MIDNJAC]

Real men use CCIP

I have probably dropped CCIP like 4 times in my life. You didn't get to do it more than a couple times in T-45's, since manual is harder and your life had to suck for a while, and conversely, CCIP is a backup mode in the Hornet, so you do basically all Autos after that which are more accurate.

 

[squeeze]

Real men use CCIP

Sure, when the TPOD's broken. But me, I'll stick with the best HAT source.

 

[CommodoreMid]

I'd agree that in a RAG syllabus for an attack jet, that is somewhat funny. That said, I have dropped probably the weight of my house in live ordnance in the fleet........NCEA, workups, etc (not including deployment) give us a lot of opportunities, which is probably more commensurate with our Marine bros. You might be happy to know that we shot 2.75" rockets in workups too.

I've dropped the weight of a house in……sonobuoys….dammit….

 

[rondebmar]

Great thread ...enjoyed the education re ordnance... learned a lot as Ord Div Officer on my second Med cruise. (Dropped a lot of ord ...NATO exercises, (training on some live ord targets over there). Had the opportunity to expend (literally) many tons of "stuff" onto Vietnam later in career ...both North and South. My personal favorite was napalm ...(or "firebomb", if you will ...LOL) ...a canister or two, released on "safe" ...then a low and fast "360", followed by a couple short bursts of 20mm into the target area ...imbedded tracers would light the stuff off...sometimes onto targets running in all directions (down south only, of course, IIRC).

Sometimes, up north, dumping dumb bombs (Mk 80 series) via 45 degree dive bombing ...a sudden but powerful crosswind gust would drive the gunsite pipper closer to a "proscribed" target (such as a small village or whatever along the Ho Chi Minh Trail) ...resulting in HUMONGOUS secondaries ...

Killing bad guys, and blowing up his crap ...and getting paid for it (although not so much then, LOL) ...life was good!!

 

[KODAK]

Why wear the face shield when the doors are on?

I was kinda wondering the same thing - it was incredibly frigid on that ramp this weekend. The unit is training to go to Afg very soon, so maybe just some "train like you fight, fight like you train" going on..

 

[Homer J]

An A-6E Intruder of Attack Squadron (VA) 52 on final approach for recovery on the snow-covered flight deck of the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson (CVN 70) operating in the Bering Sea on January 21, 1987, twenty-seven years ago today.

 

[Homer J]

Nothing historical this time. Just thought it was a cool selfie.

 

[Sheepdip]

View attachment 13322

Nothing historical this time. Just thought it was a cool selfie.

Do you have large format? Would be a cool desktop background.

The image above was taken from an MH-53J from the 20th Special Operations Squadron, piloted by Capt. Thomas Trask, during the first Combat SAR (Search And Rescue) mission behind the enemy lines since Vietnam.

The combat rescue mission was launched on Jan. 21, 1991 to rescue Lt. Devon Jones, 130 miles into Iraq.

Jones was an F-14 Tomcat pilot from USS Saratoga’s VF-103, who was downed along with RIO (Radar Intercept Officer) Lawrence Slade by a SAM (Surface to Air Missile) over Iraq.

Larry “Rat” Slade endured interrogation, torture and starvation in the Iraqi hands for 43 days.

Image credit: AFSOC

 

[xj220]

That's a badass pic. I can't imagine the feeling he felt seeing his ride home show up.

 

[Sheepdip]

That's a badass pic. I can't imagine the feeling he felt seeing his ride home show up.

Probably not very good knowing his RIO wasn't with him

 

[MIDNJAC]

That's a badass pic. I can't imagine the feeling he felt seeing his ride home show up.

He looks like a bad ass....."hey what's up guys.....someone take my kneeboard for me?"